A book for people who don’t mind getting their hands dirty

Erin Alladin, a Parry Sound area author, writes a book for people who love to get their hands dirty in the garden.

A Parry Sound area author has written a book for people who love to get their hands dirty in the garden.

Erin Alladin of McKellar, near Parry Sound, is the author of ‘Wait Like a Seed,’ a non-fiction picture book that uses the relationship between monarch butterflies and milkweed to teach the lifecycle of a seed.

“It takes young readers from wait like a seed, cozy and small, wait like a seed till the spring rains fall,” said Alladin.

“It takes readers through all the stages of a plant as it grows and flowers and eventually sets seed itself.”

The book is illustrated by Tara Anderson and published by Pajama Press.

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“You get to watch two young siblings as they watch milkweed grow through the summer, and monarch butterflies come and lay eggs on them,” she said.

“Caterpillars hatch, they pupate and grow into monarch butterflies.”

Such an important plant

Alladin said the reason she picked milkweed for the book is that it is such an important plant for its literature and easy to do.

“Any of us who have a little bit of ground can grow milkweed,” she said.

 “It’s native to our area, common milkweed and swamp milkweed both.”

Alladin added that swamp milkweed can even be grown in pots if that is all you have.

“If you find places where milkweed is growing, draw your municipality’s attention to it and say, ‘hey, can you make sure that this area doesn’t get mowed?’”

Milkweed is an important plant not only to monarchs but to so many creatures that drink nectar.

Alladin said gardening is really taking off. She and her friend have even started a podcast, ‘Plants Always Win.’

Wait Like a SEED will be released April 29.